do you ever look at words too closely or for too long, then they start to look incorrect? look at the word ‘headshots.’ strange, huh? anyway, i digressed before i even started… my good friend Jessica Cedarland and I are at Blissdom, a conference for 800 blogging women. like i mentioned in a previous post, […]
estate planning ain’t for old folks
February 23 by
I recall hearing the words ‘estate planning’ about 15 years ago. I thought “Geez….that’s for old people. Glad I don’t have to worry about that!” Famous last words. The truth is that if you have kids, and if you own a house, you need a plan. Without a plan, your assets get tied up in […]
800 women in a room
February 22 by
i’m here in nashville for blissdom. a conference catering to women bloggers. admittedly, i’m nervous. while i have many women friends, i’m not a girly girl. i don’t plan outfits. i don’t pack days in advance. i take less time to get ready than my husband. he coifs. don’t tell him i said that. my […]
the man cave…revealed
February 22 by
My husband’s man cave is about 95% complete. Time to celebrate! In the model home, this room was designed as a dining room. But with a huge morning room that fits a 9′ table and 8 over-sized chairs, we agreed that a cool man cave was in order! The man cave has a lot […]
Quinoa :: great protein for the kiddos
February 21 by
Quinoa is my new fave. I particularly loved when I went into the store asking for ‘kee-no-ah.’ Um…it’s ‘keen-wah.’ You win some…you lose some… Anyway, quinoa has great protein, is super easy to make, is versatile, and the kids love it. I’m no pro chef, but I try to give the kids something other than […]
how we deal with ants :: terro
February 15 by
We get solicitors. A lot of solicitors. I estimate ~15% are bug people. This is how the conversations usually go: “Hi, I’m an exterminator from company XYZ. Do you currently have a bug or pest problem?” “Well, we’ve got some ants, but nothing too serious.” “Really? I could spray today if you’d like for $69.99 […]
kiss the baby
February 7 by
it was a cooler evening. the clouds were rolling in. i looked over and noticed Big A glancing out the window…. …or maybe into the window… then he leaned in…. and smooshed his button nose even closer… and finally laid one on the glass. he kept trying. i don’t think he realized it was him. […]
does your 3 year old ski?
January 31 by
i love to ski. my husband loves to snowboard. we’ve got two boys and i’ve been chompin’ at the bit to get them on the slopes. last year, when i was pregnant with Big A, it snowed 20′ in mammoth. you read that right. 20 FEET! unfortunately, my two swollen feet and I were laid […]
Chinese + Spanish charter school. are we nuts to pass this up?
January 20 by
i’m 1/2 Chinese. my husband lived in Argentina for several years. with 1.4 billion Mandarin speaking people in the world, and about 1/2 billion spanish speakers in the world, it’s a no-brainer that our kids should learn these languages. i spoke three languages growing up. Mandarin, Taiwanese and English. when we moved back to the […]
a custom dining room built-in for my neighbor
January 17 by
several months ago, i was at a friend’s house. she mentioned that she wanted to do a built-in in her dining room. one where the kids could do homework. stash papers. and maybe the adults could even stash a kegerator. and all of it would be hidden if a real dinner were to be served […]
Mamma needs to luxuriate
January 12 by
how luxurious does this look? of course, the two seasons i was pregnant, there was EPIC snowfall. now that i’m ready to hit the slopes again…not so much. But Vista Verde still looks INCREDIBLE!!! An all-inclusive luxury dude ranch just north of Steamboat, Colorado. Delicious! And my buddy Deanna is getting married there in March. […]
big blue coral, hurricane vase, and brown rice
January 11 by
i found this huge hurricane vase at the salvation army. it spoke to me. “buy me! i’m only $2!” so i did. but what would i do with it? then i remembered i hadn’t yet unpacked the huge blue sea coral from our move! i wasn’t really sure what to do at the bottom. […]
first the Swiffer, now this…
January 8 by
Hi, my friends call me Big A. I’m almost 10 months old. Right before Christmas, my Mommy felt it was only fair that I start doing some chores. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADGi7C1AFpQ&w=420&h=315] First the Swiffer….and now this.
a built-in entertainment center on steroids
January 4 by
i design software applications. what does this mean? my mom has asked me this no fewer than a zillion times. i conceptualize how users should interact with software. software apps, whether web-based or otherwise, should be easy-to-use. so easy that even AOL users should be able to figure them out. again mom asks “what does […]
